This invention is directed to an insulation application nozzle for compressing and delivering fiber type insulation through a reduced area nozzle. It is more specifically directed to a reducing nozzle for fiber type insulation wherein dry or adhesive wetted insulation fibers can be compressed and forced through a reduced area nozzle with the fibers being expanded to a fluffed condition upon exiting the nozzle in either an open or confined area.
In the past it has been common to apply or place fiber type insulation such as cellulose, mineral or fiberglass type fiber insulations by the use of an insulation blowing machine. Loose fiber insulation is normally packed and sold by bags in which a large volume of insulation fibers are densely packed within the bag because of the economics of transportation and storage.
At the site where the isulation is to be used, the bags are opened and the fiber insulation material is dropped into a hopper of a large insulation application machine. The fibers are usually shredded and opened by the use of fingers or tines within the hopper which help to move the fibers into a rotating air lock where high volume, low pressure compressed air picks up the fiberous materials and conveys these materials by the use of the air through a length of flexible hose of fairly large diameter to a point where the fibers exit the open end of the hose to be poured or blown into the location where the insulation is desired. This type of application has proven to be quite satisfactory where the dry fibers can be blown into an open area where there is no restriction placed on the end of the hose or any point along its length.
At times it is necessary or desirable to apply this fiber type insulation in enclosed areas such as the interior sidewalls or ceilings of buildings or homes. In order to accomplish this type of application it is necessary to provide a number of holes in the interior or exterior walls of the structure in order to introduce the fiber material into the interior cavity. Naturally it is desirable to make these holes as small as possible to minimize the cost in closing and repairing these holes so that their location cannot be seen at a later time. This is especially true where it is intended to apply the fiber insulation through a brick wall where it is desirable to limit the outside diameter of the insulation nozzle to a size which is no larger than the height of a standard brick.
Where the conventional flexible fiber application hose is normally 21/2" to 3" in diameter it is necessary to reduce the size of this application hose to approximately 1" where the brick construction is encountered. It has been found in previous attempts to reduce the size of the application nozzle to a workable configuration that the connection of a bare reducing nozzle to the end of the conventional flexible hose causes the fiberous insulation material to clog and pack inside the nozzle whereby it is frequently necessary to stop the operation and clean the nozzle before further application can be performed. This frequent plugging and cleaning operation greatly affects the ability of the contractor to minimize the time and cost required in performing an insulation job of this nature.
Because of this clogging and plugging condition it has been found almost impossible to internally introduce a liquid adhesive material within the nozzle because of the major problem of the wetted material setting up within the nozzle making it almost impossible to remove the fibers from the nozzle once this condition has occurred. On occasions there have been attempts to introduce the adhesive at the exterior end of the reduced opening of the nozzle so that the mixing will take place after the fibers have left the nozzle. This in itself has proven to be undesirable since it is still necessary to introduce the nozzle into the structure making it impossible to observe the mixing once the fiber has left the nozzle and entered the interior cavity.